Science | Future Development Of Semiconductor Technology

Information transfer. The explosive increase in the amount of information has become increasingly demanding on the capacity of information channels. It is not only text, but also music, images, TV signals, etc.; not only wired, but also wireless; not only intercontinental, international, intercity, but also LAN. To this end, it is necessary to develop new communication systems, such as Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) and multimedia technologies.

Information processing, including text processing, knowledge processing, image processing, and language recognition, image recognition, intelligent processing, and the like. Artificial intelligence is the realization of the intelligence of some people through computers. For example: understanding and issuing language, identifying images, making mathematical proofs, playing chess, composing music, conducting professional identification, medical diagnosis, etc. Computers will liberate people from some of their daily mental work, and by using "thinking tools" to expand people's wisdom to an unimaginable level.


The mainstream process of the world's integrated circuits will pass through: 65 nanometers (integrated circuit line width) in 2007, 45 nanometers in 2010, 33 nanometers in 2013, and four development stages of industrial production in 22 nanometers in 2016. To this end, it is necessary to solve a series of key technologies and special equipment, such as: research and development of new devices (non-traditional CMOS devices, new memories, logic devices, etc.), IC design, packaging, and testing technology, new lithography machines, engraving Corrosion machines and other ancillary equipment.

The size of the semiconductor device cannot be reduced indefinitely. If the device size is as small as the Deborah wavelength of the electron (10 nm), the quantum effect will be more obvious. At this time, it is necessary to design a new semiconductor device based on the quantum mechanical principle.


Semiconductor optoelectronic devices are moving toward longer and shorter wavelengths, higher power, higher operating frequencies

High-power laser arrays of quasi-continuous (QCW) devices and continuous (CW) devices, which can be used directly as materials for machining, medical, instrumentation, sensitive technology, printing and platemaking, etc. Traditionally, markets dominated by non-semiconductor lasers have replaced gas and solid-state lasers. AlGaN/GaN heterojunction bipolar transistors have the advantages of good linearity, large current capacity, and uniform threshold current. They are mainly used in high-power microwave systems with high linearity requirements and harsh working environments, such as military radar, communication, etc. It is used in systems such as intelligent robots that operate in harsh environments.


A system consisting of a laser, a modulator, a waveguide, a grating, a prism, and other passive optical components integrated on a semiconductor film is called an integrated optical system. The integrated optical system replaces the electrical interconnection with optical interconnects, and has the advantages of wide bandwidth, large amount of information, low loss, high speed, parallel processing, and electromagnetic interference resistance in computers and communication systems. Silicon materials are widely used in microelectronic devices because of their low cost and mature process. However, since it is an indirect band gap material, it cannot be used as a light-emitting device. Scientists are currently addressing the issue of light sources to achieve optoelectronic integration on silicon materials.


Semiconductor superlattices, quantum wires, and quantum dots are low-dimensional structures. They have some special physical properties, such as quantum confinement effects and two-dimensional or one-dimensional properties of electron motion, which can be used to make some excellent devices, such as lasers. , high electron mobility devices, optical bistable devices, resonant tunneling devices, etc. When the size and dimension of the device are further reduced, so that the mean free path of the electron motion is larger than the size of the device, the electrons will not be scattered by the impurities, lattice vibration or the like during the motion, and a coherent wave motion is performed.

These features are expected to produce ultra-high-speed, ultra-low-power electronic devices. For example, quantum dot single-electron transistors will greatly reduce the power consumption of dynamic random access memories (DRAMs).


Current processes have been able to generate and detect individual photons on semiconductor quantum dots, making semiconductor quantum dots the most promising solid devices for quantum information processing (quantum computing, quantum communication). The rapid development of quantum information science and technology has provided revolutionary theoretical and experimental methods for precision measurement, quantum computing and secure communication. The most critical aspect of quantum information is the use of photon coherence.

As the most basic quantum entity in quantum theory, photon can easily realize the whole process of collecting, transmitting, copying, storing and processing information. It has unique innate advantages as a carrier of quantum communication and quantum computing. Therefore, the quantum information processing device based on photon process is the basis of various quantum information engineering. Its basic principle research and preparation will bring the development of computational science and communication capabilities.


Current microelectronic devices are the application of carrier charge carrying information. If a material can simultaneously utilize the charge and spin properties of carriers as a carrier of information, it will be able to manufacture devices with the advantages of non-volatilization, low power consumption, high speed and high integration, and even cause electronic information science. Major changes. Diluted magnetic semiconductors doped with magnetic ions and spintronics are born upon this requirement.

It is found that the spin coherence time in semiconductors has reached the order of ns, far exceeding the coherence time of charge, indicating the important application prospect of spintronics in quantum computing and quantum communication in the future. The main difficulty in implementing spin-based quantum computers is the precise control and maintenance of spin coherence. Therefore, how to generate spin coherent electronic states and reduce spin decoherence have many physical problems that need to be studied and solved.